How to Set Email Center Pro as the Default Mailto Handler in Firefox

From time to time, Email Center Pro users will ask us if it is possible to set Email Center Pro as the default handler for mailto links in the browser, so that clicking on the link prompts for a new message in Email Center Pro instead of a traditional desktop client such as Outlook.  Luckily, if you’re using Firefox 3, the answer is YES!  Follow the step by step guide below to configure your browser to use ECP to handle mailto links.

1. Open Firefox 3.x.
2. Log into your Email Center Pro account.
3. Paste the following code snippet into the address bar (NOTE: you should replace “paloalto.emailcenterpro.com” with your actual Email Center Pro account domain name. Also, if you have SSL enabled, the protocol should be https instead of simply http): javascript:window.navigator.registerProtocolHandler("mailto","http://paloalto.emailcenterpro.com/Client#%s","Email Center Pro") and hit Enter.
4. Click the “Add Application” button on the info bar that shows up just above the browser viewport to allow Email Center Pro to handle the mailto links.
5. The next time you click on a mailto link in the browser, it will prompt you to make a choice.  Select Email Center Pro and choose “Remember my choice for mailto links” if you would like to skip this step next time.  These settings can be updated at any time by viewing Tools > Options > Applications and searching for the Content Type of “mailto”.

That’s it!  If you’ve made it this far, you’ll now be able to spawn a new ECP message by clicking on the mailto link in your browser.  Another thing to note is that the ECP message will open in the same window, so it may be useful to right-click on the mailto link and choose “Open link in new tab”.  Go ahead and send us a message and let us know how it worked!

Alex Boone
ECP Developer

Tags: ecp update, integration, technical

Posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 12:57 pm within Email Center Pro. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.